The
NMU public safety institute, a division of public safety and police
services, has received three grants totaling $321,000 to provide
in-service training for Upper Peninsula law enforcement and county
corrections officers. The Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement
Standards, or MCOLES, provided the funding through a competitive
grant process. A total of $2.7 million was distributed.

Mike
Bath, training director for the
Public Safety Institute, said the bulk of the award – $261,000 –
will be used for law enforcement in-service training. The remainder
will be applied to an academy and advanced training for county jail
corrections officers.

"The
grant will cover instructor fees and supplies utilized to provide
training to departments within our consortium, which covers 15 U.P.
counties," Bath
said. "A couple of years ago, MCOLES went to a consortium concept
in awarding grants so that training would be offered to multiple
departments within each consortium rather than training departments
individually or requiring them to send people long distances for
training. The only exceptions to this are the large law enforcement
agencies in major cities like Detroit
and the Michigan State Police."

"We
will also have advanced law enforcement update schools in Marquette,"
Bath
added. "These will cover building
searches, responding to armed students in schools, defensive tactics,
precision driving, ethics, hazardous material update, CPR/AED, domestic
violence update and felony stops. They conclude with an annual legal
update.”

Corrections
training will take the form of two 160-hour academies. The curriculum
will include booking and intake, custody and security, defensive
tactics and prisoner behavior, among other topics. An advanced class
will be offered to those who previously completed the 160-hour program,
updating them on the subject areas covered in the initial training.

The
courses offered through the Public Safety Institute allow participants
to meet the requirements for either the advanced law enforcement
or local corrections diploma program as part of the School
of Technology
and Applied Sciences.

In
addition to in-service training, the NMU Public Safety Institute
also operates a regional police academy with a 16-week curriculum
sanctioned by MCOLES.